A dubious fundraising appeal for an animal rescue group in Eastern Washington has been removed from the fundraising site youcaring.org. I haven’t been able to determine if youcaring.com or Lost Pet Found Pets, the group that posted the appeal, took down the post.
Last Tuesday I reported that a number of questions surrounded a $10,000 fundraising appeal for the Shepherd’s Way Animal Rescue in Springdale, WA. The group claimed it set up a “sanctuary for Wildfire victims in the cities surrounding them” and has opened its property to “dozens of displaced families with a tent city on their 500 acres.”
Allen Aenk, one of the rescue’s co-founders, claimed the rescue was “the official command center for volunteer fire fighters. We need prayer and finances for food to feed the 150 firefighters that will be here by Monday.”
But these claims weren’t exactly true. The rescue’s property is 20 acres, not 500 acres, there wasn’t a “tent city” on the property, and there was no “official command center” on the property either. The appeal contained a few other exaggerated claims as well.
Yesterday, KXLY in Spokane ran a story that confirming what I wrote about the fundraising appeal the day before.
And this morning, Mike Bucy, the Chief for Stevens County Fire District 1, wrote this in the comment section of last Tuesday’s story. (I added the italics and bold text):
“A majority of these claims were false and the matter was turned over to the Stevens County Sheriff’s office for further investigation. There was never a tent city nor was there ever an “official” command post at this location (very rarely will a post be set up on private property). The command post has always operated from the Fruitland Bible Camp and for ashort while (2 days) there was a secondary site running out of the Springdale Fire Station (our Station 7). The fire did remain far from this location, which has difficult access to it (we had a fire up there last year).”
Based on all the evidence I have seen, Shepherd’s Way Animal Rescue used the devastating Washington wildfires for a misleading fundraising appeal, and that’s a slap in the face to the thousands of firefighters trying to control the fires and to the families who lost their homes and animals.
What I’d like to know now is why the group that posted the fundraising appeal, Lost Pet Found Pet, doesn’t appear to have vetted the claims made the Shepherd’s Way made. According to KXLY, “the fundraiser’s organizer says she got the information from Shepherd’s Way and had no reason to believe it wasn’t true.”
You’d think that a group would investigate those claims before posting a $10,000 fundraising appeal.
None of the pictures on the appeal that Shepherd’s Way provided show a tent city with dozens of people or a command center with tons of firefighters on the property. Well, one picture does show a bunch of tents, but it’s from a story from last September about a wildfire in California. Another picture of a raging wildfire was a stock photo that appeared on several sites.
Furthermore, the group’s other co-founder, Carrie Aenk, was convicted of bank fraud in 1998 and has had other brushes with the law.
KXLY also reported that “if it could be proven the money did not reach its intended recipients she (the fundraiser’s organizer)” would personally refund it herself. I assume she meant the “intended recipients” are the people who contributed the money, not Shepherd’s Way.
This story still has lots of unresolved questions, so I’m sure we’ll hear more about it in the coming weeks.
Stay tuned.
Amanda says
So now what happens to Lost Pet Found Pet? Are they themselves a non profit, or are they a paid fundraising team? Do you think they will publicly comment here?
Seattle DogSpot says
I don’t know. I doubt they would comment publicly. All they’ve done so far is attack the people who pointed out the the things in the fundraiser that sounded sketchy.
Seattle DogSpot says
Thanks for pointing this out. People are definitely looking into this.
Kathy says
Pookie Bear’s story is a very true one. Just call the shelter and ask, or better call the attorney who help him live. Many people worked hard to save him from wrongful death…